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On a meeting held at Sofia Airport, the Bulgarian Deputy PM of European Policies and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva spoke about the Bulgarian acceptance into the Schengen area. According to her, the problem lies in the attempt of some countries to associate that step of Bulgaria to the judicial system reform in the country. During the meeting, Mrs. Kuneva confirmed the readiness of the country to work along the Schengen Area requirements.

According to Meglena Kuneva millions of Euros have been invested in the airport equipment for the functioning of new systems. The Bulgarian Deputy PM stated that these systems were not eternal and will become old, without the possibility of Bulgaria to be able to recover the benefits from the capital investments it has made. She further stated that the problem that Bulgaria has is with the fact that some countries try to connect the reform in the judicial system with the security environment.

Addressing the ambassadors of the EU member states Meglena Kuneva, Bulgarian Deputy PM of European Policies and Institutional Affairs, stated that Bulgaria is accepting its potential entry in the visa free Schengen Area as a matter of security. She further stated that Europe should not allow itself to move at two different speeds as far as security is concerned. The Bulgarian Deputy PM stated that in the latest Paris events in the context, Bulgaria feels that it is very important to show its readiness to be accepted as a member of the Schengen zone.

Meglena Kuneva along with Hristo Ivanov – the Minister of Justice and Deputy and Filip Gunev – the Minister of Interior attended a business lunch with the European countries ambassadors. The meeting was organized by the Embassy of Cyprus. Mrs. Kuneva further commented that Bulgaria is against the association of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) with the Schengen Area. Further were discussed the refugees’ integration, the migration pressure and the Bulgarian-Turkish border protection issues. According to Mrs. Kuneva a common European policy should be established on the migration and integration questions, as they concern a great number of countries.

In a recent interview the Minister of Interior Veselin Vuchkov of Bulgaria said to the journalists that Bulgaria deserves to join the Schengen Area even if it is only in association with the air borders. According to him Bulgaria deserves to stay next to Romania to join the Schengen area when air borders are concerned. The Minister is positive that the two neighboring countries should move in synchrony, just as they did until now.

The Minister of Interior further added that Bulgaria, as well as Romania has been technically ready to enter the passport free travel zone for many years now and that the criteria that has been previously set have already been met. Mr. Veselin Vuchkov further confirmed that the country has even managed to do well even when the refugee pressure is concerned. He said that Bulgaria did it better than some of the countries that are part of the Schengen area. According to the minister, the issue with Bulgaria entering the visa free Schengen zone is political and confirmed that the county will keep on synchronizing its efforts with Romania in order to convince all the countries to support the new members.

In the first week of December Meglena Kuneva, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for coordination of the European policies and institutional affairs, spoke at the Bulgarian Parliament, stating that Bulgaria is technically ready to join the Schengen zone. According to Kuneva the country has been constantly inspected in the period 2009 – 2011, and all the reports stated that Bulgaria is technically ready to enter the passport-free Schengen zone. Kuneva said that the Schengen accession of Bulgaria depends on the member states are ready to accept it.

The Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs further stated that Bulgaria received serious support for Bulgaria’s entry into the travel free Schengen area from the President of the European Council. She further noted that Bulgaria has undergone a stress test with the migration pressure on its border with Turkey and the country did great. Kuneva is hopeful that Bulgaria will soon receive positive news for the gradual elimination of the borders with Schengen.

In the middle of December the Chair of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber stated that Bulgaria will not join the Schengen Area soon and that the process of joining is a matter of mid-term and long-term work. Mr. Manfred Weber was speaking in front of a group of representatibes from the Youths’ organisation of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, who were on a visit to Brussels.

According to the European People’s Party Manfred Weber, when CEDB Deputy Chairperson Tsvetan Tsvetanov was interior minister, the trust on the part of some European countries increased with the ability of Bulgaria to exert control at its borders. He further said that currently these countries are lacking trust after a year of unstable government situation. Manfred Weber stated that Bulgaria should invest in its security and should start behaving like a partner in the European Union, deserving respect but also taking responsibilities.

In early December the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated that Bulgaria is ready to join the visa free Schengen zone. He further stated that all Europeans should be aware of the high level of readiness that the country has and that Bulgaria might join the passport free zone sooner than expected now. The President of the European Commission made the speech in the first days of December, after he had meetings with the Prime Minister of the country Boiko Borissov in Brussels.

Certain reports were issued, all unconfirmed for now, that Bulgaria will finally enter the Schengen free travel zone in March 2015, when the land, sea and air borders of the country will become part of the Schengen zone in three separate stages. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria stated that he is hoping the entry of Bulgaria into Schengen will not be connected to the co-operation and verification mechanism, valid since 2007 for Bulgaria and Romania in connection with the standards in the justice and home affairs.

In the past few years some of the member states of the European Union were blocking the entry of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone, based on problems connected with the judiciary and law enforcement. However, in the recent years all governments in Bulgaria insist on the fact that the country is meeting the Schengen membership technical criteria. Bulgaria is already applying the Schengen Information System. This database is very important as it shares information about people that should not enter the Schengen zone.

The President of the European Parliament Mr. Martin Schulz has recently announced, that the admittance of Bulgaria into the borderless Schengen area of the European Union has a legal aspect and depends on the country meeting certain criteria. Martin Schulz spoke on a joint conference with Boyko Borisov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, stating that when the member states of the European Union meet certain criteria, they are entitled to various legal rights. According to that the question whether Bulgaria will join the passport free zone of Schengen should be seen from that point of view and is not a political question.

Bulgaria, along with its neighboring country Romania, joined the European Union in 2007. Both countries hoped to become members of the Schengen zone in 2010, however several of the member states of the Schengen agreement opposed due to fear of issues with organized crime and corruption. The President of the European Parliament is to pay a visit to Bulgaria in the spring and talk about the Schengen bid. This will show confidence in the government of the coalition, as well as in all parties that are presented in the National Assembly.

Several weeks ago the media in Macedonia paid special attention to the statement made by Meglena Kuneva, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria as she commented on the chances of the country to be accepted in the border-free Schengen zone. The prognosis is that Romania will soon become a member of the Schengen area, and Bulgaria will most probably be left behind. This is expected based on the coming progress reports of the European Commission on the two countries.

According to Meglena Kuneva, the two countries will most probably be separated in their efforts to enter the passport-free travel zone. Schengen zone is an economic area and most probably Romania will be the first to be accepted there, while Bulgaria will get a second negative report in a row. The Macedonia media stated that there will be restrictions for Bulgaria in the Schengen area and thus – bad news for people with Bulgarian passports.

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov recently said that Bulgaria and Romania have successfully met all technical requirements that were asked for by the Schengen authorities and thus they should join the Schengen area together. In an interview for FOCUS News Agency, the Prime Minister stated that there should be no more delays and new requirements ahead of the two countries which are waiting to become members of the Schengen zone for quite some time now.

According to the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria keeps on making efforts for integration of the newest visa information technologies in order to improve the conditions for visa. The consulate representations make efforts for the efficiency of the visa regime and for providing security of the internal borders of the union. The countries that are still showing reservations towards Bulgaria being accepted in the Schengen travel free zone are Germany and France, Belgium and Finland, as well as the Netherlands.

The Deputy Prime Minister for European Policy Coordination and Institutional Affairs recently stated that the judicial reform, as well as the positive results under the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, as well as the Schengen accession should be accepted as benefits for the Bulgarian economy. This was discussed on a meeting which Meglena Kuneva held with Jonathan Allen, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Bulgaria.

As a Deputy Prime Minister, Meglena Kuneva marked the priorities of the new government. According to the program, the government has plans for reforms in major sectors. Once these reforms become reality, Bulgaria can expect a positive report from the European Commission based on the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, followed by acceptance in the Schengen travel free zone. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is expected in 2018.